SPEAKER_01 0:07

Welcome to Beyond the Beacon with Bishop Kevin Sweeney, a podcast of the Diocese of Patterson, New Jersey. Join us for conversations about our Catholic faith, and together let's strive to live a life of faith, hope, and love. We're so glad you could join us. I'm Jay Agnis, and with me is Bishop Kevin Sweeney and our guest for today. Bishop, how are you doing?

SPEAKER_06 0:26

I'm good, I'm good, Jay. How are you doing? Doing well. Thanks. Starting to warm up, thanks be to God, finally. Spring. Yeah. Getting close.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Getting close, yeah. So uh with us is Monsignor Gino Silva, the guest of our director of our cathedral, and Sister Moira Debono. Dabono, sorry, is uh the community's local superior for the Sisters of Mercy of Alma. So we're gonna tell you more about them and the work they're doing at our at our cathedral. Uh do you want to open up with a prayer?

SPEAKER_06 0:56

Sure. As we continue this Lenten journey now in our second week, uh we'll place ourselves in God's presence in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As we join together in prayer, together with the whole church in these days of prayer and penance and fasting and almsgiving, giving thanks for God's mercy in our lives and in our ministry, and praying for Monsignor Gino and the sisters and all those who serve on our block of mercy in the parish of St. John, our cathedral parish of St. John the Baptist. And as we have our conversation today and ask the Lord to continue to guide us in our ministry, we ask the help and intercession of Mary, our Blessed Mother, as we pray. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Our Lady of Mercy, pray for us. St. John the Baptist, pray for us. St. Joseph, pray for us. All holy men and women, pray for us. Name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_04 2:03

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Okay, so today we welcome three religious sisters from the uh Sisters of Mercy of Alma. Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma. Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma.

SPEAKER_06 2:15

RSM sometimes for short, right? Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

So, and of course, Monsignor Gino. And the Sisters Assist with the Religious Education Program at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Patterson. We're going to learn about their work with the Compostela Cathedral Prep Program and how they ended up in Patterson. The Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Michigan, is a Catholic religious congregation founded in 1973. They are rooted in the charism and legacy of Mother Catherine McAley, the founder of the Sisters of Mercy, with the The Religious Sisters of Mercy, with the opening of her House of Mercy in Dublin, Ireland in 1827. The institute focuses on service and education and health care. So welcome again to both of you, and thanks for having us.

SPEAKER_06 3:01

And I've shared that we have a connection in uh my mom's two sisters of Sister Mercy in Ireland. So I had some contact with the um uh Sister Mercy in Brooklyn. Um, and uh they often spoke about Catherine Macaulay and uh um and uh Baggage Street, is it? Yes, yes, yes, right. Uh well welcome, sister. Thanks for being here. We'll hear from some of the sisters' others uh uh as uh uh shortly. Um but um Monsignor, maybe you can take us um uh on a little uh the the short version of uh maybe I'll just start with um I beg that's that's right, right, right. Maybe the the image that comes to my mind is well, um spring of 1920s, spring of 2020, uh as I had gotten this phone call that had been announced that I was gonna come eventually to Patterson. We didn't have a date yet for uh installation or um uh ordination, but um eventually I was able to travel from New York to New Jersey, I guess some restrictions, and I got to meet Monsignor for the first time at the cathedral. And uh uh and as I pulled into the parking lot and we said hello, um, he pointed to it was basically a hole in the hole in the ground. Uh the building had been knocked down, a catechetical center was going up. Uh uh then shortly after, Monsignor would tell me about a visit uh to New York and seeing some charter school uh uh things that were happening there, and that um there was uh a possibility that a charter school could come to um uh us here in Patterson at the cathedral. Uh uh a school was born, and part of that school was uh after school catechetical program, which uh you guys started with great enthusiasm and realized we could use some help here, right? Is that a little bit of a take it from there if you want to?

SPEAKER_00 4:52

Yeah, no, no, thanks, Bishop. So, yeah, so we started a dream in 2019 of trying to start a charter school in downtown Patterson to really educate the children. So we applied for a charter, raised money, put up a building, renovated the old Cathedral High School. Um, and we were the only ones granted a charter in the last eight years in the state of New Jersey. And so we're so blessed. So right now we're partnering with KIP. KIPP manages for us the board that has the charter. The it's called KIP Patterson Prep. And this year we're gonna have 786 children. KIP has some New York routes, I think. Yeah, but a great reputation. 232 schools in the country. They're the highest performing charter schools, they're the most wonderful partners. Uh and we were looking to partner with a a CMO to manage the school for us that would help each of our children really reach the academic excellence and the personal character excellence that God called them to. So, anyway, we went and we worked on all that, and what's so amazing is having access to their minds has given us the opportunity to have access to their souls. So we only started the charter school because we also wanted that to be the vehicle for catechesis. And so we are the catechetical wraparound. We call it the Compostela Cathedral Prep. So what happens is the children at the end of the school day come over to the cathedral, they get help with their homework, they get a hot meal, they get a catechetical lesson, and most importantly, they get to build relationships with our community, our catechists. They get to spend time in prayer and worship, they get to be with the sisters. I mean, just the other day a group of the seventh-grade girls came running up to me, Mon Senior, can we tell you our favorite word? I said, Oh no, what's that word? Transubstantiation. I said, How did you learn that word, Sister Mary Mia? And then they I said, Can you tell me what it means? And they were able to tell me what it means. But what's ended up happening is it's it's just a miracle. Having this relationship with these children, hundreds and hundreds of them, not only are we baptizing them, giving them the first Holy Communion, but they're bringing their parents to the faith. They're the ones that are so excited. We you know that their parents now want to be confirmed or starting to come to church. But anyway, we're here for the sisters. So that's just to set it up. So 2013, when I was working for the Pontifical Council for New Evangelization, Pope Benedict had a number of initiatives that he wanted us to promote for the year of faith. One of them was to have English masses by the Vatican for English-speaking pilgrims. And since I was the only one that spoke English in the office, so every Sunday, uh, it was wonderful at the Church of Santo Spirito in Sassia. I got to celebrate Mass to the English-speaking pilgrims to the Vatican. And I realized at that point that it would be so wonderful to partner with the RSMs because they were now going to be running the pilgrim office for the USCCB. And it was just a friendship, it was wonderful. Every Sunday there were three, four, five, six of the sisters there helping greet the pilgrims, do the music, do the readings, and it was just, I just became dear friends and really admire their mission. So when I came to the cathedral and I realized our block of mercy needs sisters of mercy. So a dear friend of mine, she was Sister Mary Krista at the time. I called her up, I said, Sister, any chance you could come to Patterson? She goes, Monsignor, don't you know we get asked by a lot of bishops to come? I said, but it's me. Come on. And she said, okay, let's let's try. So I wrote letters, and anyway, we just kept the relationship going and the discussion going. And then Sister Mary, uh, Sister Mary Christa became Mother Mary Christa. And I called her up and I said, Come on, mother, I'm begging now. Anyway, so the the sisters came and they visited, and really we had a wonderful discussion of how we needed the sisters on our block of mercy for our families, for our immigrant community, for our children. But also how much of what we do is beautiful relationship with your charisms and your vocations. And I am just, I am so excited uh that the sisters are here with us.

SPEAKER_06 9:39

And now Sister Moira can tell us from their point of view. No, no, no. That's great. That's great. No, no, no. No, no, perfect.

SPEAKER_04 9:45

Um we we each got contacted by our Mother General. You know, I was living out in a very rural place in the Pacific Northwest, and um I was asked to come here and to help found the community, and uh the other and the other sisters as well. And so we came within a f well, let's see, there was about six or seven months. We came for a visit once, two of us.

SPEAKER_06 10:12

I remember, yes, yes, yeah, in March of And so then we came.

SPEAKER_04 10:18

It will be exactly six months tomorrow that we've been here in Patterson.

SPEAKER_06 10:23

And uh and uh you're still here? And how long have you been a member of the community?

SPEAKER_04 10:31

Uh let's see. Um I'll have entered uh oh a little bit over 40 years this year.

SPEAKER_06 10:39

Well, wonderful, wonderful. And uh and um those promises of obedience, right, and uh openness to discernment. And I guess mother, as you said, reached out and and and and said, well, would you be willing or did she say you're going to Patterson?

SPEAKER_04 10:54

Well, I can't remember the exact words. It's because you're always taking up in the moment, I guess you could say when you're given a new mission. Um I can say that it was it was a total surprise, and um, but I'm always ready to say yes, because it's I know the things I've done in my life I would never have done if I wasn't a religious. You know, I've been in so many beautiful places and uh places where we can really distribute God's mercy. And uh, you know, to be here in Patterson has been a very unique experience for me, and I I I believe we're we're all have entered into it as much, you know, continually, ever more deeper as Monsignor gives us more things to do. I'm trying not to be too much of it.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

What was the phrase you used up in the moment before your the mother approved?

SPEAKER_04 11:51

I was taken up in the moment.

SPEAKER_01 11:53

So you had been prepared in your heart, or how how would you describe it?

SPEAKER_04 11:56

Well, well, you know, we have a vow of obedience. So when we're given, I mean, many times I've been, you know, when I've gotten a phone call or I've been, you know, given, however, in person, a new assignment, it's it's always taken me off guard in terms of the newness of it.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

Sure. Change.

SPEAKER_04 12:14

Yeah, and it's it's it's beautiful. It's like what the what is what's the Lord calling me to in this that I haven't had the experience of before.

SPEAKER_06 12:23

And within the larger um experience of the Sisters of Mercy, going back to um uh Mother Mary McCoy. Uh um i in the early 70s in Michig in Michigan, uh the religious sisters of Alma uh began, right? Uh and is there a uh particular charism for the religious sisters of mercy of Alma that you have within uh the larger um uh community of the Sisters of Mercy?

SPEAKER_04 12:50

Well, I b you know I we we're independent from the larger group of Sisters of Mercy now. We take our roots back from Mother Macaulay, and seven of our the first sisters were Sisters of Mercy in the larger community. And then the circumstances of you know the late 60s, early 70s um allowed what was called an experiment to take place in terms of a particular way of religious life that seemed to be being lost in um in religious life. During that time, that turbulent time, yes. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and so um so at the end of the experiment, there was, you know, there were meetings in Rome, and uh this is and and this actually took place in Grand Rapids. The sisters were given a place at St. Mary's Hospital, which doesn't exist anymore now in Grand Rapids, and um they they were working there as nurses and as various healthcare um persons. And even and the laity were also very supportive of the small group that was there. And uh in meetings after that in Rome, the the surprise was Rome said, you know what, you should just become independent. And you know, the sisters that began had some of them had just taken final vows. So they were quite young, quite young. And they talk about how um, you know, when they realized now what it meant to be in these Vatican offices, you know, and and how how the bishops and those they w met with were so attentive to their own individual vocations. It was very much that that that the the sense of Mother Church protecting the vocations of these sisters. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_06 14:36

And um and uh that led to Monsignor knowing Sister Mary, uh uh who's now Mother Mary, uh and um and and maybe each from again your own perspective. Um I presume uh something in the religious sisters of mercy made you feel that they would be a good fit uh for the mission in Patterson and and and and and then sister maybe you can say something about your Cairo Smith Living out. Martina, please.

SPEAKER_00 15:01

So what what I always just it it inspired me so much in Rome was the RSMs were strong yet gentle. They they they didn't seem to shy away from poverty or brokenness. They they didn't they they they faced it people with mercy. We had some really troubled folks that were living on the streets around the Vatican, and they would come in with the pilgrims for the mass, and and the sisters uh would make sure that we protected the reverence of the mass, but also uh respected and reverenced the individual person. And it just it really touched me and it inspired me. I said, this is the culture that that we're building on the Block of Mercy. This is the culture that we want our children and our families, especially these days when we're dealing with so many sensitive broken issues in terms of immigration and the poverty. Um and I was really with Mother Mary Christa, I said, this this this could not be a more perfect uh friendship and partnership. And I and I was really honest with her. At one point, I said, I really need your help. No, because I do. Right. No, no, I uh right, right, right, right. To have the charism of the community, to have you has made in six months such a difference, not only to the community, but to me personally and to our staff. Right, of course.

SPEAKER_06 16:49

Um discernment uh of trying to make those choices. Would you say that there was something uh particular about what you learned about uh the block of mercy and and and the conditions in or opportunities in in the cathedral and at in Patterson that would have led Mother and the leadership team to say we we should we should head in that direction?

SPEAKER_04 17:51

Well, I can't I can't say I will read their minds. But I I can just say that, you know, like our main charism is the praise and worship of the triune God. And everything has to fit into that, in that sense of the communion of the Trinity. How do we, how do we, as religious, how do we manifest that communion? And I think that's uh what's very strongly with what Monsignor strives to do with the community at the cathedral and especially the children is is have them understand the relationship of love that Communio is meant to be. And that what you know, and our role in that is to help the children know how much they are loved by God, by our love for them. And then, you know, and being able to, it's not just coddling them, obviously, but really opening them to what it means to be a child of God.

SPEAKER_06 18:47

Aware that some of them have experienced brokenness or or the lack of communion at a very young age, right? Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_04 18:53

And so hopefully not knowing and not needing to necessarily backstories, just let them know how loved they are and lead them, lead them to God. So it's really beautiful because like the kids will will um periodically will go over to the cathedral. We have a monthly mass all together, but then just to bring them in, like when the cathedral is dark and it's just my class, I have second graders, they love it and will go around and talk about different things and give them some time to pray. And then when they go back into the church as a big group, uh you know, I'll never forget when I had shown them the sanctuary candle, we were right up by it. And then when we came to Mass, and one of them kept, There it is, there it is. They you know, they remembered. And it was it was just I thought, wow, well it's something's happening.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

And they're they're building that communio model, and and the children are feeling it. So when they're in the cathedral, I always stop them and say, Okay, so what are you thinking and what are you feeling? And 75% of it is we feel safe here. We feel safe here. And uh our children right now are terrified. And so feeling that relational the communio of love, right? That we're not coddling them, but we want to bring them in the truth, beauty, and goodness. That's what it means to really love them, and and that opens them to faith. But it's funny, uh a lot of them don't want to leave and they they want to stay on that holy mountain, that Mount Tabor. And it's because of what the sisters and what we're all trying to do for the community.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Can you uh share with us a little more about the school? So it's a K-8 school. Can you tell us uh uh a little bit more about the school and then and then the after the catechetical program?

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Yeah, so what the we started the school so that we had access to the students. Also, we did it because Patterson, the test scores of our children are i it's heartbreaking, right? And so we want to give the children as much opportunity, and opportunity comes with education. So we ended up starting the school two and a half years ago. Last year, we the board ran the school, and we weren't really happy with the test scores. So we ended up partnering with KIP, and uh they have uh uh uh done uh the most unbelievable job. In fact, we announced last week that out of almost 300 KIP schools, we're the highest performing school now. And uh so uh our children now, the percentage of them are on grade in reading ELA, math. It's it's miraculous. And it's really beautiful because KIP leadership, they don't, you know, they're careful, we always have to keep the line, right? But they know that a lot of what's helping is mind, body, and soul.

SPEAKER_06 21:54

Exactly. Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

So we eat a big dinner the other night of the administration of the school, the sisters, leadership of Compostela and the Cathedral, and benefactors at the cathedral, and the head of the school gave the test scores of the children. Then Ivania gave this beautiful reflection on how spirituality helps a child grow intellectually as a person, even if it's a different faith tradition, right? It's not it's evangelization, it's not proselytizing, right? I love it when uh one of uh the pastors in Patterston, uh, one of his uh parishioners is in Patterson Prep, and Capistella said, You're making him a better Paptist, you know. But so anyway, what our dream is, and what we are going to do, is we're going to open another Patterson prep in the city of Patterson. We want to open a third and then a high school. So hopefully within five years, we want to be educating almost 3,000 students.

SPEAKER_06 22:58

I think that goes back to Sister Morris thing about Monsignor giving you things to do, huh? But I might uh within the religious system mercy, many I I think it's a a blessing that it's a the community is growing, right? You're receiving vocations at the same time.

SPEAKER_04 23:12

Yes, thanks, but every year we have women entering.

SPEAKER_06 23:15

And and many of the of the women who enter have professional uh degrees or experience in in in in I think different professions. Right. No, many of you are educators, and I would guess, and so there's just a gonna come on the second half, we can share some about that. But um uh I guess uh as educators you can see uh what's happening in the school. You're not in the classroom during the school day, but then you're picking up the religious education um in in the in the after school program. Do you see the value of of the education that the children are receiving in in the Oh yeah, I'm amazed at at you know, as I because we help them with their homework.

SPEAKER_04 23:53

So when we see what they're doing, and I actually have in these six months, I can see how they started off and where they are now, like when we do reading together or something. Um it's just lovely. Like if I'm reading a story, they'll want to read along and be able to, and uh in a much better way than earlier in the year.

SPEAKER_06 24:11

Yeah, it's just it's and you have a sense that there's good there's real good education happening in classroom? I would say so, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:18

And what we're we're trying to model, and this is we've had about three or four, as you you know them all, our major benefactors who have really supported the mission, right? Raising a lot of money to to open the schools, do the facilities, run the operations. We see what we're doing after school in running Compostela Cathedral Prep as a unique way of being a Catholic school in an urban area that is sustainable, that is pinpointing specific needs that the children have and responding to them, right? Um so it's a it's not the old traditional Catholic school, but I do believe it's a form of Catholic education.

SPEAKER_01 25:05

Wonderful. Yeah, do we want to bring on the uh keep up the great work?

SPEAKER_06 25:11

Thanks for all the support. I'm glad that you have uh the support, especially the sisters, sister. Thanks so much, and uh uh God bless you be in our prayers, and uh I'm sure looking forward to your first uh holy week in Easter with here with us, huh?

SPEAKER_04 25:23

For sure, yes, we are.

SPEAKER_06 25:24

Right, right, right. And uh um you're living in the uh can ask just a little bit about it. I was grateful to uh visit for Mass and you gave me a wonderful breakfast, and uh uh you have a nice little home there uh in not the the highest uh economic area of our beloved city of Patterson uh in what was St. Michael's rectory, uh a few blocks from the cathedral. Uh but it sounds like um yourself and your own experience and uh your years and you've lived in some challenging spots. Uh how would uh your the your living situation uh uh at St. Michael's uh uh compare to maybe some of your other experiences?

SPEAKER_04 25:59

Oh well, uh we have uh electricity and heat, and I mean it's a beautiful house. And you know, we've had the seminarians over and they've helped paint the chapel for us.

SPEAKER_06 26:09

And a four-legged friend? Sorry? A four-legged friend? Four-legged friend, yes.

SPEAKER_04 26:13

Toby. Yeah, yeah. So uh no, our house is it's you know uh part of our part of our our uh charism is to make it a home. We don't like institutional buildings. Right, right. So we yeah, but we're so happy to have you with us.

SPEAKER_00 26:29

The first night the sisters were here, it was a four-alarm fire right behind the convent and the church. I get the calls at like four in the morning, there's fire trucks. I'm like, please, oh my goodness. And they're still here. They're still here.

SPEAKER_06 26:44

Thanks so much, Monsina. Thanks. Oh, thanks for a bunch of couple of the other sisters to hear that's the experience. Thanks. Thanks.

SPEAKER_01 26:58

Okay, so welcome back. We have another two guests of the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma. So to your right, Bishop, is Sister Mary Mia Menke. And then to her right is is uh Sister Paul Miriam Mecca Innes. So welcome. Uh we're excited to get to know you a little more, uh get to know you and uh learn more about the work that you're doing at the cathedral and the in the school. So how do the real story?

SPEAKER_06 27:26

Um actually um maybe uh we um uh had a vocation discernment retreat for young men considering priesthood, and uh uh um it's uh not maybe uh not as many uh young people get to see uh young women entering religious life. Um uh but God is still calling and and and and and women are still responding. Uh uh and uh so maybe uh we'll talk about your uh arrival and ministry uh in Patterson, but maybe you can tell us a little bit about your own vocation stories, where you grew up, a shorter version, but um how you first heard about the religious sisters and and maybe when when you entered um uh you can flip a coin for who wants to go first.

SPEAKER_02 28:10

I can go first. Um so I grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, and I went to a Catholic high school that really helped foster a sense of praying and asking the Lord, what do you want in my life? And my senior year I began discerning religious life and really after retreat was really clearly it was very clear in prayer that I had a religious vocation. Um providentially one of our sisters who's a psychologist was doing her internship in Lincoln at the time. Um but I went to, so that's my senior high school. I ended up taking a year at Benedictine College in Kansas and just took that year to really discern studying as well. But um I remember a retreat that I went to, they gave us, it wasn't with our community, but it's a vocation retreat, and they gave us um litany titles of Our Lady to Pray with. So my litany title was Mary Queen of Heaven and Earth, pray for us. And I remember in adoration that evening, just asking the Lord, like, where do heaven and earth meet? Because that's where I want to go. I want to find you, I want to be with you in this life. And just beginning then, but then afterwards, um just realizing that is mercy is really where those two things meet. Um, and that for me was one of my confirmations. I really wanted to be a sister of mercy, to really be with Christ and and be at that point where heaven and earth meet. Um so I entered, I dropped out of college after that year, so I entered when I was 19, so it was in 2014.

SPEAKER_06 29:32

So Paul Mary, right?

SPEAKER_03 29:38

I grew up in Minnesota. And when I was about 13, I first started felt very much drawn towards religious life. Um I never really reached out to any sisters at that time, but I just knew of religious life and felt drawn to giving my life to the Lord in that way. And so I just kept praying and growing closer to Him. Um and then um I kind of stopped in in high school, uh, but then I went to the University of Dallas, such as a Catholic school.

SPEAKER_06 30:07

Campus ministry out here. Yeah, yeah, it's beautiful. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:10

And has a really uh strong culture of Catholicism and discernment too. Um and when I was a freshman in the spring semester, there was a vocation fair, and so different religious were invited and priests were invited, so students could just meet them. Um and so I met our sisters there first. Um they came to visit, and I remember asking what the charism was, and the sister described our mercy cross that we wear by to explain the charism by saying that the black represents the misery of mankind, and the white is the mercy of God, and there's no corpus on it because the sister is called to be that corpus and that convergence point between the misery of mankind and the mercy of God. And as she was saying that, that just really touched me, and I felt like the Lord was speaking to me and saying that was what he was calling me to be. Um and so I left that sister very joyfully and happy, and um I really felt the Lord calling me to discern more um more intentionally, and so throughout my time there I spent time in adoration, um, and especially through those times of adoration, I just consistently felt uh the Lord calling me to enter religious life. Um and consistently the that charism of mercy was just continuously on my heart, and so in 2020 is when I uh finally entered.

SPEAKER_06 31:41

Okay. Uh did you finish undergrad at University of Dallas? Yeah, yeah, right, right. Uh uh I got a phone call in 2020 telling me that I was coming to Patterson. Uh did you enter when in 2020?

SPEAKER_03 31:53

Uh September 1st.

SPEAKER_06 31:55

Wow, in the um midst of that interesting year, huh? Um and uh um so um you both uh uh formation and um uh temporary vows, right? And then final vows. Uh uh I'm not sure where you're at in uh on that uh um journey, but uh uh were you in some other ministries before, or maybe where were you uh when you got a call or an interview, or then said you're gonna go to Patterson? And uh maybe what were your first thoughts and and how's it been since uh these last six months?

SPEAKER_02 32:30

Yeah. Um so I'm I perpetu I made my perpetual vows in 2022. And um my last assignment was in Alma, Michigan at our mother house. So I was helping out. I lived with our um sisters in the first year or postulates, and then I was doing some work with vocations, but also teaching part-time. Um so that I'd only been there for a year, so the um when I had the conversation with Mother Mary Christa that I was coming here, um, my first question was, where is Patterson? But um it was like sister had mentioned earlier, it was a it was a joyful, like you just always know when you're given a new assignment that the Lord is there. And you don't really know anything else about the assignment, but that's enough. And it's um it was a beautiful, it was a surprise in many ways, but the Lord always prepares you coming up to it, so um, so yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:23

Um I am in my second year of temporary vows. Um before coming here, I was um at a medical clinic that are where our sisters are doctors, and I was serving as a medical assistant um and uh receptionist. Where was that? Um in Lansing, Michigan. Um and the clinic really serves the poor there. Um and so when I found out that I was coming here, um, I also was surprised. Um but at the same time, it is such a a blessing to receive new assignments um just because so much of what Sister Mary Mia said and Sister Mora. Um, because you just really know that this is where the Lord is asking you to be. Um it's a special privilege to know to know that I am following his will and coming here. Um and just hearing a little bit about the mission here and what um the cathedral is doing from Mother Mary Christa, it just really sounded um from the outset just something that Mother Catherine would do. Um and so it it's been a very special privilege to be part of it. And to be part of a new foundation, you know the whole institute's ready for you.

SPEAKER_01 34:34

So can you tell us uh a little bit about your roles, your kind of your day-to-day, and and what it's been like for you so far?

SPEAKER_02 34:42

In Patterson.

SPEAKER_01 34:43

Yeah, at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_02 34:44

So our main work is obviously being with the students and um supervising them, teaching them, but also, I mean, I think part of our role is just loving them as well. I have the great gift of this year I'm helping design the curriculum for the classes, so I get to um make the lesson plans because a lot of our teachers are also teaching during the day, so they don't have time to make lesson plans.

SPEAKER_06 35:04

Um to be catechetical proposed. For the catechismo. Yeah, for the catechesis.

SPEAKER_02 35:09

So to be able to think about like what do these kids need to hear the most, and how do you really foster not like a knowledge of the Lord, but also a knowledge that's always rooted in love, um, has been a great joy for me and to be able to see I my class that I have is the fifth through eighth grade girls, so I have um a little over 30 of them, and to see how they've grown in loving the Lord and how it's all rooted in just this, like there's just a deep desire in them to know him, and to like be able to take them every Friday we go to the cathedral, we do Lexio Divina together, and to be able to see them just take scripture and to love reading it, and to be able to be quiet for 15-20 minutes while they listen to the Lord's word, and to be able to come back after that and to allow the Lord to begin to change their hearts little by little. It's just been such a great joy for me to see how open their hearts are to him and how yeah, just how much they are beginning to understand each day more and more how much the Lord loves them.

SPEAKER_05 36:15

Great.

SPEAKER_01 36:16

And Sister Pauline, what what is your role with the catechetic program or at the cathedral? And how has that been going for you?

SPEAKER_03 36:24

Yeah. So I'm I'm with um a class of second and third graders um during the for the catechetical program. Um and it really just has been a joy to like get to know the students and be with them and just to see how um beyond you're we're with them beyond just teaching them catechesis because we we bring them to get a hot meal and um we bring them or we're with them with homework and we get some recreation as well, right?

SPEAKER_06 36:56

Martin Gino mentioned that uh some of the catechetical uh students in the catechetical program are also looking, or um their parents, I guess, are asking that they would receive the sacraments. So you also preparing them for first communion or sacraments uh as part of the catechetical program?

SPEAKER_02 37:13

That's the goal. So we have um we did a whole unit on baptism early in the year. It's beautiful actually to see, like to talk to them for two to three weeks about baptism to see afterwards how many of them wanted baptism. So um, baptism, but then also we just took a two three weeks of talking about the Eucharist, which is also beautiful. Some of my girls learned the word transubstantiation. But also just like it's just been beautiful to see, like they get it. And um, even we have um I like to use images in the classroom, so I often have to just print off images. But we printed off an image of the Lord at the Last Supper, and then we had an image, we found an image of Monsignor holding up the um Eucharist during the consecration. And it's beautiful it's like see like they get it. They like they look at him and they're like, he's doing the exact same thing. And it's just been beautiful to see them grow in knowledge of the sacraments, and um yeah, to hopefully we're gonna be having this conversation with them this week of who who desires to receive the Eucharist. But I will say, um, last time we had mass, I had to, I kept getting pulled after communion by my girls because they kept asking me, How do you receive First Communion? How do you receive First Communion? So there's definitely a beautiful desire within them. That's great, that's great.

SPEAKER_01 38:24

So, Bishop, it's not it's not too often a new religious community comes to a diocese. What about you and your perspective? What are your thoughts have been on that?

SPEAKER_06 38:33

Uh gratitude, gratitude to Monsignor Gino, to Mother Mary, and to the sisters here with us. There are one or two others that live with you. Uh uh. Right, right. Uh so yeah, um great gratitude. And, you know, um the the power of witness, and um even as you thank your sister for talking about the meaning of of your cross and and even the habit that you wear. Uh uh, and I think in uh even more so, um uh, you know, we uh on our discernment retreat this weekend watched um a documentary on the life of Mother Teresa and saw some of, you know, their even their the the habit of the missionaries of charity like your own is so distinct and and meaningful and and that outward sign can uh communicate so much, maybe especially in areas where uh there is a lot of hurt or a lot of struggle or a lot of and well when they see you, they they see a sign of hope. So I'm I'm so grateful for your presence. Uh and also that um uh you've uh become part of uh the the team, the the community um at the cathedral. And uh we we don't have to focus just on Monsignor Gino, but because I know you met Monsignor Gino and Father Starley and Ivania and Justin and Dennis Rodano and so many other donors, and uh maybe say a little bit about the the staff and leadership at at the the the parish and uh and even some other relationships that you've uh uh people you've met maybe uh as as as you've come here to Patterson.

SPEAKER_02 39:57

I think the I mean the cathedral staff is such a blessing, and I think um I've been struck in my like in places where I've all I've worked in other places that like they're in when you're in the Catholic mission, you really have to be able to like sacrifice and like really say like yes, this is my job description, but really like my goal in this job is some people we want to pay them. And my goal is really to make a gift of myself. And like there is like where is the limit in that? You know, I think I see a beautiful example in the cathedral staff that they just give of themselves. And they give of themselves because they see these needs, they see the suffering in front of them, they see the need. Um, and they just they're not focused upon themselves, they're just focused upon where does the Lord move me right now, and how can I give up myself so I can serve him and love him more and encounter these people so that these people can also know and love him more. It's been I I found it very edifying to work with the people in the cathedral.

SPEAKER_03 40:55

It's been very beautiful to get to know them and see. I mean, even just like the first day, they just like really readily embraced us. Um, and so it's been beautiful to see their immediate love for us, but then also to enter into their community and see how how much they love.

SPEAKER_06 41:10

And I think there are a few volunteers that uh whether it be uh I'm not sure how uh it uh I know there's staff for Compostella, I'm not sure if there's many volunteers there, but I know in the life of the parish, uh whether it be altar servers or youth group or uh min ministries and and and parish groups, um, I I guess you've been able to to work with some of those volunteers and and parish leaders as well.

SPEAKER_02 41:31

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, they've been beautiful. And even um we had a Thanksgiving dinner that we um allowed all of our students and families to come to. Um but like different groups from the the parish, the cathedral parish, like helped sponsor it. So it's just been yeah, it's just been beautiful to see how it really is a community. It's a it's a family rooted in the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 41:51

Um any other observations you've made either in the classroom or at the cathedral in your journey thus far in these six months at the top of mind that Mike you want to share at all?

SPEAKER_02 42:07

I'm just um I think I just the more I'm in catechusis, the more I realize that it all has to be rooted in a relationship of love with them. And I think what amazes me each day in the classroom is I mean, I can talk about how much I serve them and like the impact I have on them, but also like the impact that they have on us. And just like the beauty, like I I love my students and to like see them grow and to see them grow in knowledge and love, um, to see how they're being um academically trained at the school and how that carries on into our classroom. But also just to see Christ in each of them. It's just been a huge, beautiful gift that makes um such a joy.

SPEAKER_06 42:49

A diverse community, right? Uh from many different countries, even in the w within the school and and after school program, even not all the students are Catholic. Um I don't know if you had a chance to meet many of the parents or interact with them, but even the neighborhood and uh um uh uh uh what's been your experience of the great uh a lot of uh those who speak in Spanish and um uh uh d how how how has your experience been of the diversity? Is it something you experienced before? You said you worked in the clinic, right, in uh East Lansing.

SPEAKER_03 43:21

Mm-hmm Yeah, in in Lansing there were a lot of Hispanics, a lot from oh yeah Um a lot from Mexico and Cuba So in a way that was kind of like preparing me for here Um because I heard a little Spanish there. Um there were some patients who only spoke Spanish. I attempted in broken Spanish to speak to them. But then it and it's it's funny to see how that like kind of um prepared me for this in a way because now I'm like I feel like I'm more completely immersed um in it. But it's been beautiful to experience it and experience how within that like diverse because they're all yeah, they're from so many different places, but yet they do have this genuine genuine love for each other and support of each other. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_06 44:07

Maybe um when we have religious honor, I'd like to ask um uh we haven't uh we're working on our demographics, right, in terms of our audience, and there might be some young people uh who tune in from time to time. We have some good connection with some of our high schools and uh but there might be parents or grandparents of uh young uh students throughout the diocese or other places um that may um have uh a daughter or granddaughter that uh might be wondering uh if that God could be calling her. Her to maybe give her life as a sister. Is there uh did you both come maybe from uh Catholic uh families? Uh um maybe something you would offer to parents or grandparents or young people who are there who that if uh if uh a young girl was uh wondering uh about how God may be calling her?

SPEAKER_02 45:00

I think just always I always encourage just staying close to the Eucharist and just obviously mass, but then adoration. I think so many of us in our discernment stories, it always hinges upon adoration. Um but then just I think within each woman's heart to know not to be afraid that that if you're you have a religious vocation, and that's the same as true for priestly vocation, it's from you've been elected in love, and like that's not something to fear. It's different, and um many of us go through that time of struggling of like there's so much I could give up, there's so much I just want to be normal. But our life is a life of love, and it's just it's a beautiful, joyful life. It's a life that requires a lot of sacrifice, but it's a life like my religious vocation, I say, is the greatest gift after baptism I've ever received. So to just trust in the Lord. Um now if you're an outsider, like that's a little bit like it's just encouraging them to take those types of trust, um, but to really stay close to the Lord in the Eucharist.

SPEAKER_06 46:00

And you said you did some work in vocations, I presume the uh Religious Sister Mercy have a website, or if there was a a young girl that was uh uh interested in learning more.

SPEAKER_02 46:08

Uh yeah. It's um almamercy.org is our almamercy.org, we can put a link.

SPEAKER_06 46:13

Check the show notes. Thank you for that. Yeah. And Sister Fulmiriam, uh advice you would give to a young girl or a parent or grandparent about being open to God's call.

SPEAKER_03 46:26

I would also say stay close to the sacraments, um, to the Eucharist. Um just spend time.

SPEAKER_06 46:33

You said you had an idea of thirteen.

SPEAKER_03 46:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 46:35

But it took a while, right? It took a while. If there's a 13-year-old out there or a high school student, uh what would you say?

SPEAKER_03 46:42

Just keep praying to the Lord every day, spending time with him, growing close to him, growing in that friendship that will continue to develop and deepen. Um and because as you stay close to him, he will continue to guide you.

SPEAKER_01 46:57

Great. Okay. Well, I think we'll leave it there then. Uh thank you both for for being on.

SPEAKER_06 47:04

And uh before I let you go, Bishop, anything you want to share about what you're reading, what you're listening to, or oh, uh you're big basketball fans, Mustino Gino and I would talk a little bit about uh Coach Jay Wright of the um uh two-time national championship, uh, Villanova as a St. John's fan. It hurts me to say that, but St. John's beat Villanova this weekend, which was good. Uh but Coach Wright, who's a practicing Catholic, uh, is gonna be coming to our diocese in May. We'll have more uh uh on that to St. Paul's Inside the Walls. He's gonna speak to uh student athletes and coaches in the afternoon and and speak to parish leaders. Uh so we'll be sharing more information on on that. But um uh in listening to another podcast, I um uh a great Jesu uh I think it was Jesuitical about sports and religion, uh they mentioned his book called Attitude, I think is the title. And uh they described the book not only as the coach talking about these two championship seasons, but a testimony to his priest chaplain. Um and I'm about a third of the way through the book, uh, so we'll get a link to that maybe uh because uh coach Wright has a really great book. And uh Haloap, do you use the Haloap? Uh uh uh they're doing the brothers Karamatsov. Uh during Lenzo uh working on uh uh I'm listening to it. So it seems how far we got, but uh with with a little mix of Jay Wright and uh the brothers Karamatsov.

SPEAKER_01 48:31

So Doskievsky. But yes. Um I've been uh learning how to speed read. I'm trying to try I'm trying to catch up to you, but you got a lot of work to do.

SPEAKER_06 48:39

No, I'm a slow reader, that's why I like audiobooks.

SPEAKER_01 48:41

So it's yeah, it's been great. I've been uh zipping through books, a little words, pages a little more. So uh yeah, definitely uh appreciate your uh your book recommendations. And uh so thanks for that.

SPEAKER_06 48:53

Um I guess we'll Sisters, thank you so much not only for being here with us today, but um for all you do day by day and who you are, and uh you're a real blessing for our diocese, and uh so happy to have you and uh we'll continue to pray for each other. And uh maybe uh there might be some young women that want to take a visit to the cathedral to say hello and maybe uh see a little bit of a day of life in the sister, huh?

SPEAKER_02 49:18

Well, thank you so much. It's a blessing to be here. It's yeah, great to be.

SPEAKER_06 49:21

Thanks, and thanks again, Sister Moore Martina Gino, just off camera there. Thanks.

SPEAKER_01 49:26

And thank you all for joining us. Please subscribe, comment, and leave a positive rating. Get to know us better by following Bishop Kevin's Instagram and Beyond the Beacon on social media. Read the bishop's weekly column on beaconnj.org and get in touch if you have a question for the bishop or a podcast topic idea, and discover our other podcasts. See you next time.

SPEAKER_06 49:46

Thanks, everybody. God bless. Happy St. Patrick's Day if we don't see it. Thanks. Okay, St. Joseph.